


Of Flowers And Thorns

by toriels_sock_drawer



Category: Undertale
Genre: Angst, Asriel and Chara only mentioned, F/M, First work - Freeform, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmare, Post-Pacifist Ending, Short One Shot, please don't slaughter me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 11:38:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6656335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toriels_sock_drawer/pseuds/toriels_sock_drawer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things are finally going well since the monsters have moved to the surface, but the memories of what happened aren't so quick to leave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Flowers And Thorns

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work that I've actually published. I am absolute trash for writing this, but if you're here reading this, then so are you.

Sans opened his eyes. He was laying on his side. His hands were hooked into the sheets around him. Sweat was crawling down the back of his skull. He slowly began to release his grip. 

He was in his bedroom. He took a deep breath.

He looked around the room. The moon cast rays of soft, pale light through the window and across the bed sheets. Some clothes were strewn across the floor, kicked off to the side. His slippers sat right off the edge of the bed, waiting there for the morning to come. Sans reached a hand up and rubbed his skull. He sighed.

He could feel Toriel’s gentle breathing behind him. He matched the steady rise and fall of her chest against his back. Her arms were wrapped around his torso, pulling him into a soft embrace. He was still here. With her. They were all safe. They were all happy.

At least, for now.

He felt his eye sockets get heavy, and he felt himself beginning to drift away. He slowly closed his eyes and began to doze off…

Toriel’s grip tightened slightly. Sans opened his eyes again. He waited. He watched for any trembling hands, shuddering breaths, kicking feet. He lay there, alert, for several minutes.

He could hear Toriel’s breath getting slightly louder and more labored.

He slowly shifted onto his back and looked over his shoulder. He saw her laying there, her ears resting across her pillow, her mouth resting lightly open. Even when asleep, she still somehow managed to remain absolutely breathtaking. That was one thing Sans never could get used to. Always being caught off guard by her beauty. The way her ears fell, framing her face, the way her defined profile stood out against the sun, the way the stars would catch in her eyes under the immense midnight sky. Some days, he couldn’t do more than just stare and absorb it all, and simply think about it to himself. How lucky he was to know someone like this. How lucky he was to share such an amazing thing with another person. Falling completely speechless for the first time in his life. Eventually, she would catch him, and she would laugh, and he would laugh, and he would make a joke, and the process would repeat itself. Even now, the curves of her cheekbones and the line of her jaw added with the snow-white fur reflecting in the soft light of the moon to create a stunning picture. She truly was beautiful. How could he had ever ended up with something like this? He didn’t deserve it. It was better than he could have ever imagined.

Sans noticed that Toriel’s mouth was twitching. As he watched closer, he could see that it wasn’t just moving, but she was actually muttering something under her breath. He tried to make out what she was saying, but it was too quiet to hear. Sans rested his hand on Toriel’s cheek. Her grip tightened even more.

“hey. hey, it’s ok, tori. it’s alright. i’m right here.”

Her hands were twitching. Her mumbling became a little more audible, and her brow began to furrow.

“c’mon, tori, it’s just a dream. snap out of it.”

Toriel’s arms withdrew from Sans’ torso and wrapped around her stomach. Sans began to sit up. Toriel’s breath started to quicken, and her words were becoming more coherent.

“...Stay with me, stay with me, please, don’t go…”

“tori?” 

“...I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I tried, I tried so hard…”

“tori? hey, c’mon, wake up.”

“...Don’t do this to me, I didn’t mean to…”

Her voice was now at full volume. Sans lightly grasped Toriel’s arm and began to shake it softly. Toriel brought her knees up and into her chest.

“...No no no no no no no no no no no no…”

“toriel. toriel, wake up. you’re having a bad dream. it’s not real.”

“...I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry...please, don’t--!”

A jolt ran through her body, and Toriel suddenly sat up with a gasp. Her breaths were rapid and shallow, and she was trembling violently. Suddenly, she began to cry. Tears trailed down her cheeks. She pushed her hands into her face, claws digging sharply into her forehead. Sans sat up on his knees and put his arms around her. Her body shuddered with each sob she emitted, her gasps tearing at her throat. Sans hushed her, and spoke to her in a soft, quiet voice.

“hey. you’re ok. you’re alright. it was just a dream.”

“I couldn’t do anything--”

“it’s ok, it’s not real.”

“I tried so hard to save them, I--!”

Her words were stumbling over each other, and she was inhaling sharply. Sans tightened his arms around her.

“it was just a dream, tori. you’re here now, back in reality. we’re on the surface. we’re in our room, right across the hall from Frisk and Papyrus. i’m right here. there’s nothing to worry about.”

Toriel wrapped her arms around Sans’ and sobbed. Sans rested his head on her shoulder. They were gently rocking back and forth on the matress. Slowly, Toriel began to match her breath with Sans’ expanding and contracting ribcage. She swallowed, and exhaled deeply. Sans slowly began to rub her back, his fingers tracing over her nightgown and though her soft, silken fur. He reached up with his other hand and wiped the tears from her eyes. Toriel sniffled, and rubbed her eyes.

“well, i’m glad that we were able to deal with that crysis.”

Toriel laughed exhaustedly. She slumped forward onto the bedspread over her legs. Sans draped himself over her shoulders, chuckling. She raised her head from her lap.

“You manage to make me laugh every time, don’t you?”

“what’ve i told you, my puns are tearable.”

Toriel snorted. She grabbed Sans and lifted him into her lap. He was laughing too. They sat there for a while, breathing heavily. It was a comfortable silence.

“are you ok?”

“Yes, it is just…”

“...just what?”

“I...I cannot…”

“what’s wrong?”

“It...it was my children.”

Sans straightened up and looked at her. Her face was somber and her eyes were distant. She was no longer smiling. Sans rubbed his forehead.

“jesus, toriel...i’m...i’m sorry--”

“No, it is fine, it is just that...it was so real…”

Toriel let out a heavy sigh. She rested her chin on top of Sans’ skull and stared off into the darkness. Sans listened intently.

“They...they were crying out for help. They were both surrounded by flowers...they were being enveloped in them. Being suffocated by them. They were screaming and crying. I tried to help them...but I was trapped. I could not move, I could not speak...no matter how hard I tried, I could do...nothing. I could only watch my children die in front of me.”

Toriel’s hands tightened. Sans grasped them tightly. She sighed, and a tear began to roll down her cheek.

“Then...they rose up. Their faces were...they...there was black dripping from their eyes and mouths. They spoke to me. Asking me why I could not save them. They began to get very angry, and they blamed me for it. They said it was my fault that they were dead, that because I had done nothing they had become like this, that I could not love them if I could let this happen to them. Then, they began to get closer, and closer...and their mouths opened, and vines and thorns were coming out of them, and the yellow flowers were wrapping around me, squeezing me...I tried to get them to stop, I tried to apologize…”

Toriel’s voice broke. Her lips were trembling. Her tears began to fall at a more steady pace. Sans turned towards her and took her face in his hands.

“hey, c’mon now...don’t start this up again. my repertoire for crying jokes is almost empty.”

Toriel gave a half-hearted chuckle. She lowered her head and lightly pressed it against Sans’ forehead, and he lightly pressed hers back.

“you’re ok. there was absolutely nothing that you could do, tori. it’s not your fault. you need to believe that. besides, that’s all in the past. right now, just focus on the present while we still have it.”

They sat in silence, heads together, for many minutes, listening to each other breathe. They reveled in each other's warmth, souls fluctuating in sync with one another. Toriel raised her head and kissed him softly. They remained there for a moment before breaking away.

“better?”

“Yes. Much better.”

“welp. time to goat back to sleep, then.”

Toriel laughed and snorted. Sans chuckled. 

“Yes, I am bone tired.”

They lay back down on the mattress, Sans resting on top of Toriel’s chest. They melted into each other, their breath flowing as one; in, out, in, out…

The room was quiet, except for the rhythmic inhales and exhales that flowed throughout the room, and except for the sound of the pot of yellow flowers on the bedside table being magically lifted up, and then being dropped into the trash can with a satisfying thud.


End file.
